Duchy of the Archipelago | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1207–1579 | |||||||||
  Coats of arms of the two ruling houses of the Duchy, theHouse of Sanudo (1207–1383, left) andHouse of Crispo (1383–1566, right) | |||||||||
 Duchy of Naxos, 1450, highlighted within theAegean Sea | |||||||||
| Status | Client state* | ||||||||
| Capital | Naxos | ||||||||
| Common languages | Italian andVenetian officially, Greek popularly | ||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox popularly | ||||||||
| Government | FeudalDuchy | ||||||||
| Duke | |||||||||
• 1207–27 | Marco I Sanudo | ||||||||
• 1383–97 | Francesco I Crispo | ||||||||
• 1564–66 | Giacomo IV Crispo | ||||||||
• 1566–79 | Joseph Nasi | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||
| 1204 | |||||||||
• Duchy established | 1207 | ||||||||
• Crispocoup d'état | 1383 | ||||||||
• Ottoman suzerainty | 1537 | ||||||||
• Expropriated byMurad III | 1579 | ||||||||
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* The duchy was a client state of, in order, theLatin Emperors atConstantinople, theVillehardouin dynasty ofprinces of Achaea, theAngevins of theKingdom of Naples and (after 1418) theRepublic of Venice. From 1566–79, the duchy was administered as a part of theOttoman Empire before total annexation. | |||||||||
TheDuchy of the Archipelago (Greek:Δουκάτο του Αρχιπελάγους,romanized: Doukáto tou Archipelágous,Italian:Ducato dell'arcipelago,Venetian:Ducato de l'arcipelago), also known asDuchy of Naxos orDuchy of the Aegean, was a maritime state created byVenetian interests in theCyclades archipelago in theAegean Sea, in the aftermath of theFourth Crusade, centered on the islands ofNaxos andParos. It included all the Cyclades (exceptMykonos andTinos). In 1537, it became a tributary of theOttoman Empire, and was annexed by the Ottomans in 1579; however, Christian rule survived in islands such asSifnos (conquered by the Ottomans in 1617) andTinos (conquered in 1715).
TheItalian city-states, especially theRepublic of Genoa,Pisa, and Venice, had been interested in the islands of the Aegean long before the Fourth Crusade. There were Italian trading colonies inConstantinople and Italianpirates frequently attacked settlements in the Aegean in the 12th century. After the collapse and partitioning of theByzantine Empire in 1204, in which the Venetians played a major role, Venetian interests in the Aegean could be more thoroughly realized.
The Duchy of the Archipelago was created in 1207 by the Venetian noblemanMarco Sanudo, a participant in the Fourth Crusade and nephew of the formerDogeEnrico Dandolo, who had led the Venetian fleet to Constantinople. This was an independent venture, without the consent of theLatin emperorHenry of Flanders. Sanudo was accompanied byMarino Dandolo andAndrea andGeremia Ghisi (as well asFilocalo Navigajoso, possibly). He arranged for the loan of eightgalleys from theVenetian Arsenal, set anchor in the harbour ofPotamides (port) (nowPyrgaki, in the southwest of Naxos), and largely captured the island.
The Naxiotes continued to resist, however, and established a base inland, around the fortress ofApalyros/Apalire. The latter fell to Sanudo after a five or six weeks' siege, despite the assistance rendered to the Greeks by theGenoese, Venice's main competitors.
With the entire island occupied in 1210, Sanudo and his associates soon conqueredMelos and the rest of the islands of theCyclades, and he established himself asDuke of Naxia, orDuke of the Archipelago, with his headquarters on Naxos. Sanudo rebuilt a strong fortress and divided the island into 56 provinces, which he shared out asfiefs among the leaders of his men, most of whom were highly autonomous and paid their own expenses.Navigajoso had been granted his island domain by Henry of Flanders and was technically a vassal of the Latin Empire; Sanudo himself recognized the Latin Empire's authority rather than making the Duchy avassal of Venice. The conqueror himself ruled for twenty years (1207–27). He held in his personal possessionParos,Antiparos,Milos,Sifnos,Kythnos,Ios,Amorgos,Kimolos,Sikinos,Syros, andPholegandros.
Sanudo's fellow crusaders conquered lordships of their own, sometimes as vassals of Sanudo, e.g. Dandolo onAndros. Although they are often considered to have become Sanudo's vassals as well,[1] the Ghisi brothers, who heldTinos,Mykonos, and theNorthern Sporades (Skiathos,Skyros,Skopelos) never recognized the suzerainty of Sanudo. Instead, like him, they were directly vassals of the Latin Emperors.[2] Some families thought earlier[3] to have settled at this time in the islands were in fact established later, in the 14th century (Barozzi etc.) or the 15th (Querini).[4] Further south,Kythera (orCerigo), held byMarco Venier, andAntikythera (orCerigotto), held byJacopo Viaro chose to become vassals of Venice.[5]
The institution of Europeanfeudalism caused little disruption to the local islanders[citation needed], who were familiar with the rights of alandowner class under the Byzantine system of thepronoia. The significant legal distinctions between the Byzantinepronoia and feudalism were of little immediate consequence for those who farmed the land or fished the waters in question. In most cases, the local population submitted relatively peacefully to the authority of their new Venetian lords. Sanudo and his successors prudently followed a conciliatory course with their Byzantine subjects, granting even fiefs to certain among them, in an effort to bind them to the dynasty.
The Venetians brought theCatholic Church with them, but, as they were a minority of habitually absentee landowners, most of the population remainedGreek Orthodox. Marco Sanudo himself established a Latin archbishopric on Naxos, but in contrast to his successors, did not attempt to forcibly convert the Greek Orthodox majority. These moves consisted primarily of imposing restrictions on Orthodox clergy and the exclusion of Orthodox Christians from positions of authority.
The islands were of great importance in Venetiangrand strategy, with their valuable trade routes toAnatolia and theEastern Mediterranean, which the Venetians could now control. Aside from providing safe travelling routes to Venetian ships, the Venetians also exportedcorundum andmarble, which they mined on Naxos, to Venice. Certain Latin feudal rights survived on the island of Naxos and elsewhere until they were abrogated in 1720 by the Ottomans.
Twenty-one dukes of the two dynasties ruled the Archipelago, successively as vassals of the Latin Emperors at Constantinople, of theVillehardouin dynasty ofprinces of Achaea, of theAngevins of theKingdom of Naples (in 1278), and after 1418 of the Republic of Venice.
In 1248, the suzerainty of the Duchy was nominally granted by the Latin EmperorBaldwin II toWilliam of Villehardouin, Prince of Achaea.[6] Marco II Sanudo lost many of the islands, except Naxos and Paros, to the forces of the renewed Byzantine Empire under the admiralLicario in the late 13th century. The Byzantine revival was to prove short-lived, though, as they relinquished control of their gains in 1310.[citation needed]
In 1317 theCatalan Company raided the remnants[which?] of the Duchy; in 1383, the Crispo family led an armed insurrection and overthrew Sanudo's heirs as Dukes of Archipelago. Under the Crispo dukes, social order and agriculture decayed, and piracy became dominant. It officially became a vassal of Venice in 1418 in reaction of theRise of the Ottoman Empire.[7]
Before the last Latin Christian duke,Giacomo IV Crispo, was deposed in 1566 byOttoman SultanSelim II, he was already paying the Sultan tribute. The Sultan's appointed representative, the last Duke of Archipelago (1566–79) was aPortuguese Jew (Marrano),Joseph Nasi.
Latin Christian rule did not come to a complete end on that date: theGozzadini family inBologna survived as lords ofSifnos and other little islands in the Cyclades until 1617, and the island ofTinos remained Venetian until 1714. The last Venetian ports inMorea (thePeloponnese) were captured in 1718.Gaspar Graziani, aDalmatian nobleman, was awarded the title ofDuke of the Archipelago' by the sultan in 1616, but the island was again under direct Ottoman rule at the end of 1617; he was the last to hold the title.
Today, Cyclades islands such asSyros andTinos have some entirely Catholic villages and parishes, while many Greeks from the Cyclades have surnames with a distinctly Italo-Venetian origin e.g. Venieris, Ragousis, Dellaportas, Damigos etc.
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| Ionian Islands and dependencies |
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| Related articles | ||
| Sanudo dynasty(1207–1383) | | |
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| Crispo dynasty(1383–1566) | ||
| Ottoman rule(1566–1579) | ||
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